found: African American National Biography, accessed via The Oxford African American Studies Center online database, July 27, 2014:(Holland, Endesha Ida Mae; Ida Mae Holland; civil rights activist, educator, scholar, and dramatist; born 29 August 1944 in Greenwood, Mississippi, United States; sexually assaulted at the age of eleven, soon after became a prostitute; around 1962 discovered the civil rights movement and became a volunteer of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Office (SNCC); received a GED; BA in African American studies, University of Minnesota (1979); master's degree (1984) and PhD degree (1985), both in American studies; in 1983 added the name "Endesha" from Swahili, means "driver" -- that is, she who drives herself and others forward); started a group in the 1970s called Women Helping Offenders; taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo in American studies (1985-1993); authored series of plays and received numerous awards and accolades for her creative works, including Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award nominations, held memberships in several organizations, including the Dramatist Guild and the Black Theater Network; in 1993 took a post at the University of Southern California's School of Theater; died 25 January 2006 in Santa Monica, California, United States)